McEwen recovering, signs Katusha anti-doping clause

Australian Robbie McEwen has had to balance his recovery from a severe knee injury with public questions about his refusal to sign his Katusha team's anti-doping contract, but both issues are being resolved. "After receiving the awaited legal advice, I have now signed the much spoken about anti-doping addendum to my contract with Team Katusha," he announced on his web site mcewenrobbie.com.

McEwen and several others from the team hesitated to sign the anti-doping agreement which would punish riders with a fine of five times their salary if they were found positive. The policy was instituted after Austrian Christian Pfannberger tested positive earlier this year.

After the policy was presented to the riders, Antonio Colom became the second Katusha rider to test positive following targeted testing by the UCI. Colom also refused to sign the charter.

"I want it clearly understood that I am absolutely anti-doping," said McEwen.

"Now that the details have been sorted out I can concentrate fully on my comeback and get back to racing and winning with my teammates as soon as possible."

McEwen suffered a broken tibia in a run-in with a road sign during the Tour of Belgium last month. It was initially feared that the sign had sliced through important tendons and ligaments, but the damage turned out to be less severe, and McEwen was able to pedal on a stationary trainer for the first time this week.